Specter
by Lorion
Summary: A new life, and a new meaning. A dream come true for a person like me right? Someone who has no past and not even real, someone treated like a monster. Is it a dream come true? Or another tragedy just waiting to happen. The follow up to Who am I but a Monster.
1. Chapter 1: Can a Ghost be Hurt?

**Author's Note: **

**The follow up to Who am I but a Monster. And, yes, you will have to read that first to understand the beginning.**

**Anyways, not much to say here, enjoy and I hope you'll join me for the ride.**

**Leave a review and the usual, tell me what you liked and what you didn't like, yada, yada, yada. Enjoy.**

**- Lor**

* * *

Chapter 1: Can a Ghost Be Hurt?

It was a regular day in the dorm room of team RWBY, that was, until they were called to the headmaster's office. Only a few days have passed between the encounter in the forest with the unknown figure. The team was called in and promptly took the seats that were set in Professor Ozpin's office.

There were a bundle of papers on top of Professor Ozpin's desk with a steaming cup of coffee on it. The office was relatively neat, except for papers strewn on the tops of filing cabinets. Professor Ozpin looked up from his desk filled with papers, "Good morning team RWBY."

"Good morning Professor," Ruby greeted.

"So, what's up? Another mission?" Yang asked casually.

"Yang, you're speaking to our headmaster," Weiss scolded.

"She is right," Blake stated.

"It's fine," He said pausing to take a sip of coffee. "You're probably wondering why I called you here," Professor Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee. "Yang, do you recall the boy in the forest of Forever Fall?"

Yang clenched her hands and was about to slam it onto the chair. "Of course! He saves us then turns against us. He toyed with my emotions and tricked me."

"I want the four of you to bring him in, you failed to do so before and I can understand. But, now we have a better idea of what you're up against." Professor Ozpin said taking out his scroll. "You've already seen that he can create illusions from his own will."

"Is that his semblance?" Ruby asked.

"That's only part of it, he also seems to be able to create his own dimension of some kind, and as Yang has already experienced it causes people to see things that are not real. He can turn rocks into horses, trees into a storm of crows and create imitations of people," Professor Ozpin stated. "That's all that we could find, you four are tasked with bringing him in, harmed or unharmed. But he must be alive."

"Oh, I'll bring him in," Yang said, clenching her teeth.

"We'll do our best sir," Ruby said.

The four left to go to the forest of Forever Fall, to pursue this mysterious individual. They were floating above the forest as the driver nodded to team RWBY's leader, Ruby Rose.

"You guys know the plan right?" Ruby asked.

"We split off in two, and keep in contact with our scrolls, if we see him we buzz," Yang stated.

"Good, and Yang, thanks for not getting angry," Ruby replied.

"I'm saving it for when I meet the jerk," Yang answered while clenching her fist.

The hatch opened, Ruby and Weiss leapt off first, Yang and Blake were the last to get off. _I'm coming for you_. Yang thought as the two dropped.

* * *

_Yet another quiet day_, I walked through the forest like every other day. I sighed as I walked through the forest. I heard crows coming from north of the forest, the train was in that direction but at this time of day the train would have already passed. I then heard rustling in the forest as if there were people there. _Great, just my luck_, I thought as I decided to run away from the sound. If they didn't come here then they couldn't find me.

I heard the noise pick up from behind me, "Wait!" I heard a feminine voice say.

I didn't wait; instead I created a pocket dimension and transformed a tree into a storm of crows. "Ah!" I heard the same voice cry, followed by another gust of wind.

_Two of them? Great_, I continued to run forward away from the two and escape them. I didn't want to face them at all; they'd only see me for the monster I am. I heard the gust of wind race by and shielded my eyes. There was a white haired female. She was in a white dress, I vaguely remembered her. "Tch, what do you want?"

"We've got orders to bring you in," The White haired female said.

"Does it look like I want to be brought in?" I hypothetically asked, clenching my hands into fists.

"Hmph, fine, we'll do this the hard way," She said with a smirk.

I felt her dash towards me with a rapier pointed towards me. I dodged to the right creating a storm of crows from the trees to go and maul her. She simply slashed them apart and they returned back to being wood. "It'll take more than mere illusions to stop me."

"Hmph," I said reaching out for the chain and sword. They formed from the blue flames on both of my hands.

The white haired girl prepared herself. She waited for me to attack, I smiled under my hood. I whipped my chain at her and caught her rapier in it, I then jerked her towards me and she lost balance, falling to the ground. Her rapier fell to the ground with a twang. "What will you do without your weapon?" I taunted.

She scrambled towards her weapon and I made my way over. Before she could reach for her weapon I'd set my blade under her throat. I bent down and picked up her rapier, tossing it off to the side. I kicked her in the stomach and she fell. She seemed to be unconscious, I was about to make my way over her to check if she was alright when I felt a kick from behind me.

"Leave her alone!" I heard a person cry out.

I was tumbling forward; I used the momentum to push me back up. Doing so the momentum shook me around but I regained my footing. I turned around to see a girl in a black blouse and dress with red trimming. I heard several more rustling coming from both sides, I saw a blonde girl appear from the air, she was wearing a gauntlet that was positioned right in front of my face. I leaned back and she fell, going into a roll. There was also a black haired girl that appeared beside her.

"You're going to pay!" The blonde said.

"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" I asked.

"You hurt me three days ago, in this very forest!" She yelled, her temper rising.

"Tch," I said to myself. "Why won't you people just leave me alone."

I saw the white haired girl coming around; I noticed this and caused a pocket dimension to occur behind us. The girls noticed this, "Guys, watch out."

"Screw this!" The blonde yelled jumping straight for me.

I cloaked myself in a secondary dimension, causing me to become invisible in this one. I decided to leave an imitation there. The blonde's fist hit the illusion and it disappeared in a mist of vapour. "Where is he, nobody knows! But only that you should leave him alone, you should know!" I said running away.

I dissolved the pocket dimension and ran, the four noticed me and began to pursue. At this I became angry. _Why do they insist on following me_? I told to myself as I ran. _Can't they see I don't want to be near them_? "Why are you running!" I heard one of them say. "It's not like you have anything to hide!"

I felt myself choke, I fought back tears. I didn't know at all why I still cried when people say things like that. "Leave me alone!" I cried out continuing to run.

They gave way to a high speed chase; I saw a blur rush past me from my right side and stopped in front of me. It was the girl that kicked me before; she had a scythe at the ready. I couldn't stop and would've collided with her, wait, why would I? I'm a ghost right? I then heard large growls from deep within the forest. Trees came crashing down and an Ursa was holding out its right paw to swipe at the girl. _No!_ I thought as I dashed in front of her and grabbed hold of her. I held on to her as I turned around. I felt the Ursa swipe at me and a pain flared. I pushed the girl away and she stumbled, I turned around. I created my sword in my right hand and stabbed it into its belly. I then sliced upwards killing the beast, I panted, exhausted from the fight and run. _Gotta run_, I thought before I heard more rustling from the forest.

I felt a blow to my head.

* * *

Ruby saw what happened from the ground, the boy had taken the blow that was meant for her and protected her. Yang went over to pick up her sister before jumping to hit the boy in the back of the head. "Yang! Why'd you hit him, he saved me," Ruby said.

"Oh right, like he saved me before," Yang replied.

The White haired girl joined them shortly afterwards. "Good, you two have caught him."

"Well, I didn't do that, Yang did, but only after he saved me," Ruby stated.

"That doesn't matter, we've got what we've came for," Yang said picking up the body of the unconscious boy.

"She's right, we'll let the headmaster take care of him," Weiss stated.

Ruby sighed, "Let's call for extraction then." _Why'd he save me_? She thought while going back on mission.

They did so, this required a strong signal so that they could reach the channel back at Beacon. This seemed to alert several creatures of Grimm nearby. "You girls have to prepare for the Grimm coming your way, the signal that you sent will affect them and alert them to your presence." Professor Ozpin instructed.

"Right," Ruby answered.

"Good luck, we'll see you in an hour," The Headmaster said signing off.

There were several growls coming from the forest, following by a loud menacing screech. "You guys think that that's a Nevermore?" Ruby asked.

Yang hoisted the limp body of the boy, "Nope, but I don't want to sit here and find out."

"Right, we should get moving," Blake stated.

Ruby nodded and the four began to move to their extraction point, situated several miles ahead of them. They arrived in a short time, that was when they heard trees tumbling and another screech occur. A group of Ursa came crashing through the forest, "Yang, get him out of here."

"No way, I'm not leaving you guys," Yang protested.

"This is an order from your leader!" Ruby ordered firing at an approaching Ursa. "Go!"

She began to run from the forest, she didn't like to do this as one, she wanted to fight, and two, she was afraid of losing her sister. The image during her visit to the forest a few days ago still stained her mind. She felt the boy stir on her shoulder shortly afterwards. She prepared for his struggle.

I felt myself come around an hour later, I realised that I was being carried by the blonde. "Let me go!" I ordered.

"Nope, you're coming with us like it or not," Yang said.

A loud screech came from the forest.

My face paled, well, as much of a pale as a ghost could. "Let me go! I have to help them!"

"Right, help them," Yang said rolling her eyes. "It's just a Nevermore, we've fought those before."

"That's not a Nevermore!" I said pushing myself off of her shoulder.

I ran, I ran in the direction of where the screeches were coming from. I hoped that I wasn't too late.

Ruby's eyes were wide open in fear, the beast that advanced towards her was no regular creature of Grimm. The creature was on all fours, with scaly skin. It's heads had horns on its top and had a long snout. Each of them struck fear to her mind. Her comrades were on the ground, unconscious, but alive.

Its arms and claws screamed death; there was a compressed set of leathery wings on each of its arms. Its narrow reptilian eyes focussed on her, its long claws were like razor sharp swords, glistening in the light of the sun. Its body was slender and had spikes on its back, its powerful hind legs were extended. Those too, were deadly weapons, it also lad a long tail with spikes at its end.

The last feature of the creature was its black scales and a white scaly underside. It had red piercing eyes that would intimidate even the bravest hunter. Simply put, it was a dragon Grimm. They were a rare breed and lived solitary lives, but they were ready at any moment to lunge at any prey or huntress in training, in this case.

Ruby checked here pockets for ammo, only to find that she had no more ammo left. The Dragon Grimm had a smoke coming from its mouth, prepared to cook the girl alive. She braced herself for the inevitable end that would come.

But it never did.

She opened her eyes and saw the boy that Yang was supposed to contain in front of her, he had a chain around the dragon's neck. The dragon already prepared a blast of fire, it was stronger than the boy and was about to blast them both. "Watch out!" The boy cried out, letting go of the chain and diving for the girl to get her out of the way.

* * *

I got off of the girl, I felt something burning on me, my cloak. _Damn cloak_, I thought as I took it off. _I hope they'll run when they finally see what I am after all of this_. I turned back to the dragon; I held my sword in my right hand, pointed towards the dragon at an angle. Ready to guard it's next strike.

It swung its claw at me and I blocked it, being pushed back slightly. I leapt forward and grabbed onto its arm, it lifted me up and brought me to its mouth, its jaw open revealing rows of spiked teeth. It shook me off and I was already falling, waiting for me to come in. I was too late and I didn't have anything to grip onto to escape.

I felt myself being carried off, the girl in black and red grabbed me as I was falling and saved me from my demise. _Heh, could a ghost really be killed like that_?

"You okay?" She asked, getting off of me.

"Yeah," I answered. The dragon screeched again, "Ready to kill this thing?" I asked.

"Ready," She answered.

It began to spew smoke from it's nozzle, this signalled that it was about to spew fire at the both of us. I whipped my chain around it's neck, running to the side and yanking it along with me. It opened it's jaw and I saw the erupting flame rise from it's throat. "Now!" I yelled.

She leapt and with her scythe decapitating the beast.

The dragon fell to the ground limply, it's head severed from the rest of its body in a clean slice.

I was merely anticipating the pain and suffering that would come, what I got thought was something that threw me completely off. "Why'd you help us?" The girl in black and red asked.

"Just because I fought you guys doesn't mean I hate you," I said sighing. "I just want to be left alone."

The girl in black and white came around by the time we'd slain the dragon. Now she was walking towards me, still dazed from the hit but conscious enough to understand the conversation.

"But why?" The girl in black and white asked.

"Cause I hate people," I stated.

"But, why?" The girl in black and red asked.

I sighed yet again. I was curious at the same time; _they still couldn't see what I was_? _Why_? "Something happened to me a while back," I said.

"What do you mean? It's not like someone hurt you, right?" The same girl asked.

_More like people_, I thought to myself, beginning to tear as I remembered the cursed names that people shouted at me. _Demon, monster, freak_, each thought of it brought back memories of pain and suffering.

"Sorry, if I brought up something," The girl in black and red apologized. "We're here for you, we understand," She continued taking a step forward closer to me.

"You don't understand!" I yelled through tears. "Nobody will understand the pain that I've been through!" I felt something touch my shoulder, and looked to find the girl with black hair look at me sympathetically. I looked into her eyes and saw the eyes of someone that received pain just like I have. The other's looked at me and began to grow sympathetic, even the blonde that I've broken in the past. _Maybe, they don't know,_ I began to think thoughts of joy. _Could this be a new life_?

"We're here for you," The girl in red and black attempted to assure me.

I felt this assuring aura from everybody, it made me stream tears of joy. "Really?" I asked.

"We are," The black haired girl said.

For some reason I found it reassuring coming from that girl. I saw a large airship on top of us landing down. The four of them got on but I remained on the ground, unsure whether to take the leap. The blonde stopped and turned around, "Come on, you coming, or do I have to drag you on?" She asked, holding out her hand.

_Should I take it? They don't even know what I am, but, this feeling. They, they can see me for what I am, not what I look like. It'll be a new life and a new meaning_.

I took her hand.


	2. Chapter 2: New Life

**Author's Note:**

**Hello readers, welcome to another chapter.**

**With the greetings out of the way some of you may be wondering why Jack can be hit by Yang and the others despite him being a ghost, and also why some objects he phases through and some he can't. I assure you that it'll be explained later.**

**Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter, in the effort of not spoiling anything I'll include a post story note at the bottom.**

**Also an important note, school for me starts very soon, thus my writing schedule will become delayed. And it will largely depend on how much free time I can accumulate to write for my various fics. So, I'm just warning you and asking for you guys to be patient with me.**

**Enjoy, please follow and leave a review.**

**- Lor  
**

* * *

Chapter 2: New Life

The entire ride back I sat in the corner with my head down. The four girls were having an adamant discussion. The ship was pretty plain, with the ramp that we entered leading to rows of seats stuck onto the wall. The interior was a simple black colour; I was off in the corner looking down at my hands.

I saw them as the ghostly hands that they truly were, but, the others, for some reason, saw them as normal. Sometime during the ride I saw the four girls come near to me, Yang was right beside me with a large grin.

"So, what's your name?" She asked.

"Jack," I answered.

"Well Jack, nice to meet you," She replied, holding out her hand for me to shake it.

I simply nodded, "Nice to meet you," I replied, my voice quite quiet.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Yang said.

"Yang, let's try not to annoy him, he just agreed to go with us," Ruby stated.

"I-It's fine," I said taking a pause. "I-I just don't really talk to people much."

"I can see that," Yang stated.

"Yang!" Ruby hollered.

"What?" Yang asked with an innocent look on her face.

"Stop embarrassing him," Ruby answered.

"I'm not embarrassing him, I just want to know more about him," Yang stated leaning forward.

The two got into a heated argument; I leaned back on the other hand and found that Blake who was next to Yang was reading a book. "Hey," I greeted.

Blake closed her book and looked at me, "Hello," She greeted.

"Don't you find them a bit disturbing?" I asked.

"Not really," She answered.

"Must be nice being around people," I said.

"Not all the time," Blake answered.

There was a pause before, I decided to let her get back to her book, "I'll let you return to your book," I told her.

"Thank you," She replied returning to her book.

Yang who was arguing with Ruby noticed me lean back into my seat, she also saw that Blake just reopened her book, and put two and two together. "Oh, look at you two, already getting along," She said referring to Blake and me.

"Not really," I said before I was hit in the back.

"What do you mean? Of course you're getting along," Yang said with a smirk.

"Yang would you please settle down, you're bothering the driver," Weiss scolded.

Yang's face seemed to become disappointed, she pouted, "Party pooper."

I chuckled under my breath and smiled a bit, already my life felt more lively being around these people. Ruby chuckled, "Oh come on Weiss. It's just a bit of fun."

"We're disturbing the driver," Weiss stated.

Ruby continued to chuckle, "So, where are you from Jack?"

This was a question that I simply couldn't answer, I was stumped. I couldn't tell them the truth, so what could I tell them? "Er, uh."

Ruby saw me stutter when I tried to answer, I could guess what she was thinking. She thought that I was probably too agitated right now to answer. "That's okay, you don't have to answer yet," She said.

"Oh come on, I want to know," Yang said disappointed.

"Please stop Yang, he's already nervous," Ruby said.

"Alright," Yang replied disappointed.

"Sorry," I told her.

Yang immediately piped up, apparently having cheered herself up. She had a huge grin on her face, "That's okay, say, have you ever boxed before?" Yang asked.

"Yang!" Ruby exclaimed.

"What, it's a valid question," Yang protested in return.

I chuckled, these two made me feel alive, the bonds that they shared together made me feel happy to even witness them, "No, I don't think I've ever had."

"Want to try?" Yang asked.

"Sure, why not," I answered.

"Hold out both of your hands, out in front of yourself," She instructed.

Ruby's was concerned, she was watching the situation very carefully, "Yang, be careful."

"It's alright, I won't hurt him," Yang told her.

I held out my hands in front of me, opening up my palms for her fists to go into them. She began to lightly punch them, even though I could feel the strength that she put behind each blow. "Wow, you're strong," I complemented.

"Thanks, you're not bad either," Yang said.

I helped her to practice, this took up some time. She seemed to be venting some kind of emotion through her blows as I felt them increase in strength, after a while I felt that my hands were bruised. "Gah!" I exclaimed as she did a really hard blow.

Ruby who was attentively watched saw how I held my hand; it seemed to be heavily bruised. How? I had no idea; it's still one of the mysteries that I haven't found out yet.

Yang noticed the damage on my hand, "Oh my god! Jack! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing a bit of rest wouldn't fix," I told her.

"Now look at what you've done," Weiss scolded looking at my swollen hands.

"What? I didn't think I would be that strong," Yang told her. In return Weiss face palmed herself, I could tell that she was thinking along the lines of, _you idiot_.

"There should be some first aid around here," Ruby said searching around. She found a white box and went over to get it.

She opened the box and took out a bandage wrap along with some medicinal supply. I knew what she was going to do so I pulled back. "Look, I'm fine, see?"

"Come on, you can't go on like that," Ruby said grabbing for my hand.

"No, I'm fine," I said hiding my hands behind my back. I wished for them to go back to normal, sure people were solid but I didn't trust inanimate objects. For all I know the bandage wrap would just pass through. It would then reveal to them what I was.

Ruby came over and pulled my hands from behind my back. I saw that they were fully healed, "What?" She asked, stumped.

"See? All better, I don't feel a thing," I said returning to my seat.

"That's, odd," Weiss said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

The pilot alerted us that we would be arriving in about five minutes. We got ready to get off, the four getting their belongings, Ruby hid her scythe back behind her back, Blake sheathed her weapons onto her back and Weiss onto her side.

We arrived at the school and the pilot reverse parked, so that we would walk out from the back and see the place. I walked out and was absolutely breathless, there was a castle, it was beautiful with a large statue in the center with a sort of garden around it. There were large steps leading to the castle, the grounds were brightly lit and it seemed like the castle sparkled. And besides all that the castle was huge, it simply towered over the mountains that I used to stay in.

"Wow," I said in amazement.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Ruby asked.

"Absolutely amazing," I replied.

"Well, welcome to our school," Yang said.

"School?!" I said, shocked.

"Yes, Beacon Academy, they train huntresses and hunters," Blake stated.

I saw someone walking towards us, he was holding a cane and was wearing a brown suit. Healso had a green scarf. His grey hair was coupled with glasses showing his age, the glasses seemed to be crooked which I found odd. But, heck, I haven't had any proper human interaction in years so I'd find them all odd.

"Hello, you must be the man from the forest," He greeted.

"Er, hello," I responded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of this academy, now, come inside, we have a lot to discuss," He said turning around.

We followed him but he turned around again, "I will only be needing him, team RWBY you may return to your dorm and rest. No objections."

They nodded and proceeded in a slightly different direction, I waved goodbye to them and they waved back. I walked through the halls and was amazed, the architecture and the style of the place was so new and different that I was at a loss of words. We arrived in his office and he opened it, inviting me inside.

I walked in and he came after me, closing the door.

"So, hello Jack," He greeted to me.

I was shocked, I've never spoken to this man in my life and he already knows more than he should. "How, how do you know my name?"

He chuckled, "There is little that I don't know in this world."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, and I already know what you are," He stated. He handed me a cup of coffee from his desk. "Coffee?"

My face paled; or as pale as a ghost's face could get. "I'm guessing that you want to get rid of me now."

"Now why would I want to do that?" He asked.

"Because I'm not even alive," I said. "I'm a monster. Don't you see what is in front of you?"

"No, I see a young man who has been misguided," He stated.

"You, you aren't even concerned that I'm dead?" I questioned.

"That is of no concern to me, maybe to you, it might. But my concern is what you did to my students," He told me, bringing out some kind of device.

"What is this?" I asked.

"A scroll, it is a multi-functional device that we use to communicate with it each other, it also acts as a memory storage device," He stated. I was dumbfounded by the words he spoke out, "It's like a brain."

"A brain?" I asked, I knew nothing of this device. But, I guess I did kind of understand what it was.

He pulled out a series of images, "This is the video that was recorded when Yang pursued you."

"I remember," I replied. "So, what do you want? I already apologized to them; I already willingly went with them."

"That is quite true, but what I want to know is, who are you?" He answered.

_Who am I? That's a question that I've been asking for as long as I could remember_. My face paled, I had no answer for him. "I-I … I don't know."

"Hmm, that's interesting," He said.

This agitated me, "Interesting? You mean terrible, I don't even know who I am."

"That's the interesting part," He told me.

"What do you mean!" I yelled back to him.

"Most people of your kind remember who they were," He simply stated.

"My kind? You mean there were more?" I questioned, getting agitated with every response.

"They've all gone by now, fulfilling what was missing and moving on," He stated.

"Then I'm alone," I replied, saddened by his response. For some reason I also seemed to be able to believe him, even though there was no evidence. He seemed to radiate with experience and wisdom.

"Not necessarily, you have team RWBY, don't you?" He told me.

"No, I don't, I'm living a lie with them. Don't you see? They think that I'm just a normal person, which is why they trust me so easily. If they saw me for who I am do you think that they would treat me the same?"

"I think they would," He replied.

"You obviously don't know humanity enough," I told him.

"No, I think that you don't know humanity enough," He said back. "I believe that you want to be with people, but you're afraid of the consequences that could come."

"Th-That's not true," I told him.

"Than what is true?" He asked. This stumped me; I had no response for this. _What was true? Who am I? Why do I shy away from people?_ "Exactly … Jack, I want to give you an opportunity here. To start a new life," He continued. "You start tomorrow."

"What starts tomorrow?" I asked.

"Your stay here, maybe, along the way you'll find out who you were," Ozpin said.

In my mind I was jumping for joy, I was about to be given a chance for a new life, one that won't be hiding from people in a lonely empty forest. But, my body said otherwise, I guess part of me knew that it would become one huge lie. But, that was drowned down when I heard that I might be able to meet people. I didn't care at that point about people finding out; it was completely out of my head.

"Really?" I asked, cautiously.

"Yes, you could use the housing," Ozpin stated. "I already have a room set up for you."

This alerted me, "Already? You were expecting me?"

"Of course, as I already told you, there's little that I don't know," He stated. "Now, you may leave, I believe that team RWBY is already waiting for you."

He showed me out the door and I found team RWBY waiting for me. "Hi Jack!" Ruby greeted.

I was surprised, the headmaster was correct, "Hi," I said awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to show you around," She replied.

"Ruby! I'm sure that Jack would love to know about our school but he needs to rest," Weiss scolded.

"Weiss, come on," Ruby whined.

"She right," Blake said.

"Oh man," Ruby said disappointed.

Yang came over to her sister and pulled at her cheeks, she had a large grin and I saw the two laughing. "Come on, smile!" Yang said through grins and laughs.

Ruby tried to free herself from Yang's pinches, "Cut it out Yang," Ruby said while laughing.

I began to laugh as well, the situation was very light. I seemed to feel something that I've never felt before, _this, this feeling, it's, so warm_. I began to slowly laugh louder, Yang noticed this and turned around, "See, he's smiling," Yang stated with a smile.

I chuckled, "I guess I am."

"Well, let's get you to your room then," Ruby stated. "Onwards!"

I chuckled, "Let's go then."

They led me through the halls and around the building until we came to what looked like a hallway filled with rooms. They led me down the hall and found the room that I was supposed to be staying in. All of the doors looked identical so it was hard to tell which one was which.

When we arrived at what I assumed was my room I saw the four of them look at mine and the room beside it. "Huh, that's weird," Weiss stated.

"What's weird?" I asked.

Ruby who was off thinking with her hand on her chin before realizing what was going on, "It means we're neighbours!" She exclaimed.

"Neighbours?" I questioned.

"She means that you're next door to us," Blake stated.

"Oh," I said.

"Well, I'm off to go to bed," Weiss stated leaving to go into their room.

Yang and Blake followed Weiss, Yang left with a two finger wave. Ruby followed the three, "Well, welcome to Beacon Jack," She said.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Well, see ya later," Ruby said before leaving.

I entered my room to find a single bed sidled up against the wall. There was also a shelf of books along with a table in between the shelf and bed. There was a desk up against the right wall closest to the door. I noticed a bundle of sorts on the table. On it was a single note and a bundle of clothes, _great, what am I gonna do with this_? I wondered, _maybe the note has something_. I picked up the note, which was somehow solid, in my hands and turned it over.

_From Professor Ozpin, you'll know what to do_.

_You'll know what to do? What did he mean by that? Surely he can't expect me to wear them_, I thought. Either way I needed rest, my mind subconsciously told me that I needed to sleep, even though I would be perfectly fine without it. I am dead after all, so I didn't need the sleep. But, as I sat down on my bed I began to lean back and fall into sleep. This was due partly to my excitement, and the joy that I felt when I was with the four.

They made me feel human.

* * *

I was awoken with a knock on the door; I got out of bed and stumbled around for a bit, occasionally bumping into things. I managed to straighten myself enough so that I made my way to the door. I opened it and found team RWBY there to greet me. Ruby who was in front of the door took a step back.

They were all dressed in what seemed like uniforms, with a maroon coloured jacket with gold trimming along with a red dress.

"Good morning," Ruby greeted.

"How're ya doing Jack?" Yang greeted.

"Morning," Blake stated.

I greeted them enthusiastically, "Good morning!"

"Wow, I'd thought that you'd be a bit tired," Yang stated.

_Er, should I feign exhaustion? I mean, I've never really been tired before, being a ghost and all_. I decided to feign exhaustion, I began to yawn, "What are," I yawned again. "You guys doing here?"

"How can you be tired? You were full of energy before," Yang stated, curious.

"Er, I guess the morning finally hit me," I lied with a slight embarrassed smile, closing my eyes as I did so and rubbing my neck.

"Anyways, why aren't you changed?" Weiss asked rather coldly.

"I was too tired," I stated, "I'll be with you right in a second," I continued going back inside.

_What am I going to do now? They'll find out at this rate_, I thought as I paced around the room. I tried to pick up the clothes but my hand just merely passed through them, _figures_. I panicked, trying to pick them up but they didn't seem to connect. The note fell to the ground from the small table; I remembered what the Professor included in the note. _Wait, what did he mean I'd know what to do? I can't pick up clothes and wear them, but that's impossible. Then why did he bring me the set?_

I wanted to continue to be with the four, they made me feel like a person and not an outcast. Even though Weiss would treat me coldly at least she saw me as a person. Sweat began to form on my head as I wondered what would happen, would they reject me? I could already hear their voices inside my head yelling monster, demon, but even worse, a liar. I closed my eyes as I wished that I could simply continue to be with them, doing whatever it takes. After a while I found that it was no use, I felt nothing change.

I opened my eyes.

I found a set of clothes on me; it was the uniform that Professor Ozpin gave me. I also felt my cloak on me in all of its tattered shape and form. I took a breath of relief. I stepped back out of my room and closed the door.

"Looking sharp," Yang said.

"Wow, nice cloak," Ruby said appearing behind me to compare our cloaks. "It's so cool!" She reappeared in between Weiss and Blake.

I could feel her happy light joy radiating behind me and I smiled. "Well, I'm changed. So why are you guys here?"

"Oh, we wanted to ask if you wanted to eat breakfast with us," Ruby said.

"What?" I asked, shocked behind the whole ordeal. "Why?"

"Cmon," Yang said moving to put her hand behind my neck. "It'll be fun, right?" She asked the group hypothetically.

"Yeah!" Ruby replied. I was hesitant with my answer, I didn't know why; maybe I was a bit over cautious since I was around people. "Please?" Ruby asked with a pout.

I paused before giving my answer, "Alright, let's go then."

"Yay!" Ruby exclaimed, going off down the hallways.

We followed her, "She's great isn't she?" I asked.

"If you think so now just wait until she's on a sugar rush," Weiss stated.

"Oh come on Weiss, Ruby's not that annoying," Yang replied.

Weiss sighed, "You're right."

"She does have quite a bit of energy," Blake stated.

I chuckled watching Ruby bounce along the hallways, "Indeed she does." I felt joy seep up from inside of me but I died it down from coming onto the surface, the four were already a lively bunch as ever. They made me feel like one of them, yes, even Weiss, the cold and punctual girl.

All of them made me feel like a person … even if I wasn't real.

* * *

**Post Story Note:**

**So, thus ends another chapter, the end was more of a lead up into the next chapter. Now as I said before it will be revealed later why some things phasing through Jack and others not.  
**

**But I can give you a hint, it involves his state of mind.**

**Anyways, I'll see you guys later.**

**- Lor**


	3. Chapter 3: Smiles and Fear

**Author's Note:**

**Hello again dear readers and welcome to another installment.**

**Not really much to say about this chapter without giving away a few things so yeah.**

**As usual, please leave a review and I hope that you enjoyed it.**

**- Lor**

* * *

Chapter 3: Smiles and Fear

The four of them lead me down the hall and out a set of stairs, leading me outside. Their school was just as magnificent in the day as it was in the night. The clear sky illuminated the surrounding area as pigeons that were in front of us flew away. We seemed to be on the right end of the school as they lead me to the main building. Ruby and Weiss seemed to be in a conversation, though Weiss seemed to be mostly annoyed at Ruby who was trying to entertain Weiss. Yang and Blake came up from behind me and decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, do you have any plans?" Yang asked.

"No, not really, I mean, I have no idea what's going on," I replied with a smile.

"Don't worry, we'll show you around, it seems that your schedule and ours are the same for today," Yang told me.

"Huh? How do you know that?" I asked, curiously.

"The Headmaster told us that we'd lead you around," Blake stated.

"Oh, well, thanks then," I replied with a rather large smile.

"You're welcome silly," Yang replied, hitting me in the back. And causing me to stumble forward.

"So, we have Professor Goodwitch for our first class today," Blake stated.

"Who's him?" I asked.

"Oh, silly, it's a she," Yang corrected me.

"Oh, ha ha," I chuckled a bit.

"So, how's she like?" I asked, I was curious as to who I was meeting today.

"She's nice," Blake stated.

"Yeah, just don't get on her bad side, ugh," Yang shuddered. "I've gotten on her once, and I still have nightmares about it."

"Was it that bad?" I asked. I couldn't possibly fathom how an angry person could be this horrible. I mean, what's the worse that someone could do, right?

"Yang's just exaggerating, she got scolded a week ago," Blake stated, rolling her eyes at Yang's response.

"It was terrible!" Yang protested, "Who knew that she had it in her?"

We seemed to have arrived at the main building; the four of them lead me to the left and into a massive hall. There were long rows of tables set up with benches along them. This seemed to be the eating area, there were groups of students scattered along the tables; all of them were dressed in the uniforms. There was a food line along the back with mechanical beings working the register and food. There was a group of four students sitting in the center of the middle table.

There was a blonde guy with short scraggily hair, a red haired girl with a long ponytail, a black haired guy with a pink streak and an orange haired girl with short neat hair. Ruby and Weiss decided to go and sit down with them. Yang and Blake followed shortly afterward; the four of them were talking with the other four. The blonde guy waved over to me, signalling me to come and sit with them.

I sat down next to Weiss, "Hey, my name's Jaune, nice to meet you," The blonde greeted me.

"I'm Jack," I said.

"Nice to meet you Jack, I'm Pyrrha," The red haired girl introduced.

"Ren," The black haired guy simply stated.

"PANCAKES!" The orange haired girl yelled out of the blue, sniffing the air.

I began to stifle a laugh before I belted out into laughter, the tone from the girl and the expression was so ridiculous. "What?" I questioned between my laughs.

"Oh, that's Nora," Ren said. "She's rather …"

"Explosive? Yeah, I can see that," I replied, chuckling a bit afterwards.

"Hee, I like this guy," Nora said.

"Well, that was rather loud," Weiss said.

We got up to get our meal; we seemed to be in line before four boys. I looked around and saw a very tall guy with darkish orange hair along with what seemed to be his three cronies. The three of them seemed to be snickering to one another. After Yang got her breakfast, it was my turn, I decided to speak my order, I could see scrambled eggs and sizzling bacon. They all looked so mouth watery; I decided to get a plate of them.

I held out my hands to take the platter, the server held them a bit over the ground, when the platter made contact to my hand the server let go, assuming that I would take it. And well, since I'm a ghost it fell straight on through. It landed on the orange guy's feet.

"Oh what, damn it!" He hollered. He then looked up to see where it came from. I didn't know why the platter fell through, I mean, my bed was solid last night. So why were certain things solid and others weren't? "You!" He scowled maliciously.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I apologized sheepishly, truly I was, it was my mistake and he had every right to be angry.

"Come on," I heard one of his cronies say. "Let's just leave."

He looked toward his crony before turning back to me, "Grrr," He gritted his teeth as he scowled before turning to leave me.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled out.

The four of them came back to check up on me, "You okay Jack?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, but I think I made that guy really angry," I replied.

"You idiot, you spilt all your food," Weiss scolded.

"I'm sorry, my hand must've slipped," I apologized.

Weiss merely sighed, "Let's just get what's left of it."

Yang lifted up the platter and dropped it into my hands; I prayed that I would be able to hold it. Thankfully this time I caught it with my hands, it was basically a lot of spilt over eggs and dirtied up bacon. The four of them took me back to the table and I sat down, I was unsure of how to eat this. I mean, I had no idea how to eat with a fork and knife. After being stranded in the forest for what must've been years I had no reason to eat, and I still don't have a reason to eat. I mean, I'm a ghost, so why would I need to eat? But, at the same time I wanted to so bad.

I looked up and saw Ruby's face of pure delight as she ate her food; she seemed to be enjoying every single bite. It made me crave the food, made me want to injest this food to find out what it was like. I then looked at Nora and Yang; both of them were enjoying their food enthusiastically. I wanted to be just like them, I wanted to feel what they felt. My hands trembled as I began to feel ecstatic. I plunged my hands into the food and began to scarf them down my mouth. The food was cupped up and swallowed chunk by chunk.

Every single bite felt heavenly, I could taste the freshly cooked eggs and it was savoury. It began to make me drool from the mouth between each bite. Then the bacon, it was meaty and salty, it paired up with the eggs so well and I scarfed them down along with it. When I was finished there was just a bunch of mismatch and bits of eggs all over the place.

I looked at my hands, they began to tremble as I saw bits of eggs on them as well, I then began to lick them up a taking every bit of egg off of my fingers. Weiss seemed to have noticed this, "Ugh! Could you eat more civilized?" She scolded.

"Jack's just hungry," Ruby attempted to quiet it down.

"It's sooooo! GOOD!" I exclaimed.

"You're like Nora," Weiss scolded.

"No thanks, one is enough," Ren added.

"He he, oh come on Weiss, he's just a hungry guy," Yang commented.

"He hasn't eaten since yesterday morning," Blake brought out.

"He should have better manners," Weiss scolded, before turning back to me.

When she did turn back I'd placed my napkin in my shirt and was holding my utensils properly. "Who, me?" I asked.

Ruby laughed, "He's got you good Weiss."

"He's got pretty high class," Yang snickered.

"You …" Weiss said, a bit tensed up and with a clenched fist.

"It's alright, right?" I questioned.

Weiss sighed, doing hand gestures to calm herself down, "Yeah," She began before scolding me again. "Just don't do it again!"

"Of course!" I immediately exclaimed with a bow, "Oh Princess."

Ruby laughed even more, "its heiress," Weiss said, again tension rose.

I merely chuckled to myself nervously, "Say, when class begins?"

"Not for another hour," Blake stated.

"Oh, okay," I said, with a faint smile.

The eight of them then began to goof off. Ruby was impersonating some Professor; she had her finger under her nose. She seemed to be making a fake moustache as well as other faces along with it. She tried to make the best deep voice that she could and seemed to be telling a story. I found all of this hilarious; Yang was smiling as she chuckled as well. Blake was reading a book but I could see a small smile form on her face. Weiss seemed to be irritated, yet at the same time I could feel an emotion of joy seeping from her.

I smiled to myself, these emotions of joy; they made their way into me, trickling into me. They made me smile of hope; Ruby's light hearted behaviour seemed to cheer me up. I didn't know why, maybe it was her weird faces, her childish attitude, or her smile. It made me filled up to the brim with joy; I then began to laugh good heartedly.

"That guy sounds very amusing," I added.

Ruby still had her finger on under her nose, her top lip puckered up as I said that. "Yeah, unless you're a girl." Yang stated.

"Huntresses! Kchik," Ruby said, pointing her finger at Yang.

"Oh are you hitting on me too?" Yang asked, grabbing her sister by the neck and pulling her into a hug.

"Ah-ooo!" Ruby wallowed out as she flailed her arms.

I chuckled, once again I was happy. Happier than I was in all my life, these people brought my hope up. They made me feel joy and happiness whenever I was near them. It wasn't just their actions, I just felt grateful to be near them, conversing with them like I was a person. It was like this for a while, I just couldn't stop smiling.

"It's time for classes you dolt," Weiss said.

"Aww," Ruby pouted.

We hurried on to our first class; we also seemed to have it with Jaune and the other three as well. They followed us in and into a changing room, the room was divided clearly girls and boys change room. The girls entered in from a different side, I followed Ren and Jaune as they went into the male side.

The room was set up in an H shape, with lockers along the walls. There was an empty one that was open, I decided to go to it to see if it was meant to be mine. There was a keypad, and it indicated that it was new. I didn't have any clothes to put into it, I mean; my clothes sort of appeared onto me when I thought about them. _When I thought about them … maybe that's how I change my appearance!_ I decided to think about my previous clothes, the ones that I usually wore. I pictured them in my head, my vest and pants as well as all the intricate details.

Closing my eyes I opened them to find them on me, _so my prediction was right_! If I wished for them they would come, I also wondered what it also meant for being solid to certain objects. I closed my locker; I could feel the cold metal on my hands as I closed them which made me tingle.

"Hey! Jack!" Jaune called out.

I came over to him, "Thanks for waiting for me."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jaune said.

We headed out together and I joined the two teams, sitting in between the both of them. The room was large and expansive, with bleachers forming a semi-circle along an arena. The lights shone on the center of the arena, focussing on a single person. A teacher, she had blonde hair with a single curl to the side. She also was wearing a white top and a dark dress with dark stocking to match it. She topped this off with oval rimmed glasses and a short ragged black cape.

She was holding a rod like item; the class was getting rowdy as we all took our seats. The teacher decided to whip her rod, creating a screeching crack sound cut through the room like a sword, silencing everybody.

"Now that everybody is here we can begin today's class, as I am aware there is a new student by the name of Jack," She introduced.

I waved my hands, I looked around the room the class didn't seem to make any exaggerated movement for the most part, this didn't bother me, it was until I looked to the left that I saw someone look at me with anger and rage. I looked at the person closely and saw that it was the same person that I dropped the platter on today.

"Now, my name is Professor Goodwitch and I will be instructing you in the art of combat," She stated. "I'm sure that you've already fought before but I would like to call on you today."

"Me?" I asked.

"Yes, Jack, please step down to the arena," Professor Goodwitch requested.

"Go get em Jack!" Ruby cheered on.

"Yeah, you go!" Yang cheered.

Weiss and Blake stayed silent, yet I could still feel some sense of encouragement from them. I walked down to the arena and went beside the Professor. "Now, I would like to call Cardin Winchester, as his opponent."

I saw the same person I'd made mad this morning walk down; he was holding a large, hefty, blunt weapon. It seemed to curve inside to a red jewel. He was wearing heavy plated armour. It seemed to come in three parts, for each joint. He was also covered in black sleek metallic clothing that was revealed through the cracks in the plates.

While he was facing me he seemed to smirk at me, "Time for payback."

"Ha, ha, I'm, sorry?" I stammered out, honestly that weapon looked like it could flatten me completely. And if I've learned anything from fighting Ruby and the others was that they were very, very, solid.

Professor Goodwitch went off to the side; she blew a whistle that screeched in the air, "Begin!"

Cardin charged me; his mace seemed to be so heavy that he was dragging it along the ground. He did seem to be slow which was part of my advantage. I created my whip in my left hand, blue flames formed chains as I whipped it towards the mace. It latched on and I pulled, attempting to relinquish it from his grasp. I tugged and tugged, but it seemed to have no effect.

He smirked and yanked his mace, causing me to trip over. He was now on top of me and was about to swing his mace. I expanded my cloak as I cloaked myself in my dimension, rendering me invisible to Cardin. While I did so I rolled to the left, causing his mace to slam into the ground creating a crater. He looked around and didn't find me.

"Where are you!" He shouted, searching frantically for me.

* * *

"What is that buffoon doing?" Weiss asked, "He's right there!"

"Shh, it's getting good," Ruby shushed Weiss. "It's his semblance."

"You really think it's his semblance?" Weiss questioned.

"Well what else could it be?" Yang asked.

Weiss sighed, "It still seems odd."

* * *

I created my sword in my right hand, watching it form as I slashed Cardin in the back, causing him to stumble forward before swinging his mace behind him. "Stop hiding!"

"Why should I?" I cackled, with terror and fear augmenting my voice.

I decided to play with his fear, running away I began to sense his mind. The moment that seemed to be the most fearful was when he was almost killed by an Ursa. I decided to create the illusion of an Ursa. The Ursa stumbled forward, "Woah! What!" He exclaimed.

He swung at the Ursa, the Ursa simply batted the mace away as it pinned Cardin to the ground. I could hear him getting weaker as he let the fear over take him, causing him to believe that he was getting weaker and weaker. He struggled as the Ursa was about to bite him, I stopped the illusion and slashed his body. He took the hit with much pain, he seemed to be quivering in fear. The illusion must've gotten to him more than more than I thought. He began to crawl away from me. I proceeded after him just before Professor Goodwitch blew her whistle.

* * *

"That was a weird fight," Ruby commented.

"Yeah, Cardin was just being flung all over the place," Yang said. "It was kind of funny."

"Funny? You mean absolutely weird!" Weiss protested.

"It was rather peculiar, Cardin seemed to be living a dream of some kind," Blake commented.

"More like a nightmare," Yang added.

"Ugh, even so, that was, weird, I can't believe that Jack can do that!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Well, we aren't clear on what semblances are, but, it does seem strange," Blake mused. "It doesn't seem like a semblance at all."

At that statement everybody was shocked; they turned their heads to focus on her. Even team JNPR focussed their attention on Blake.

"Not a semblance?" Jaune asked.

"That can't be," Pyrrha added. "Then what else could it be?"

"I don't know, it just doesn't feel like a semblance, I mean, have we ever seen him emit an aura?" Blake stated.

"Now that you mention it, no, we haven't," Ruby stated.

"Exactly," Blake confirmed.

"So, what you're saying is that he doesn't have a semblance, and in hindsight no aura? But, that can't be, he's got a soul," Weiss thought.

"Well, that's not necessarily true, a dead person cannot contain a soul as they've moved on into the next life," Blake stated.

"So, you're saying that he's dead?" Weiss questioned.

"It's just a theory," Blake stated.

"That can't be true! Jack is alive, and I know it!" Ruby protested.

"Sis, calm down, it's just an idea," Yang said, shushing her sister down.

"O-Okay," Ruby replied, quieting down.

"It is weird though," Blake stated.

"I guess we're just gonna have to ask him," Yang stated.

"You're right …" Ruby accepted.

* * *

There was a lone person sitting in an abandoned warehouse, she had what seemed to be three different colours in her hair, pink, white, and brown. She was also wearing a white jacket and brown pants. She held a parasol over her head whilst picking up a call from her scroll.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Did you find him?" It was a male voice on the other end.

"Yup, everything is going according to plan, we'll him warrior soon," She answered, turning, swiping at the scroll to bring up a video of Jack.

"Good, keep your eye on him," The male instructed.

"Will do."


	4. Important: Ending Polls Early

**Author's Note:**

**I know that the poll is not even scheduled to be over yet, but, I've decided to go ahead and speed things up. I've created a twitter account, this'll be the easiest method to communicate to you guys.**

**I also partly made it because I don't want to delve into the deep dark hole that is Tumblr.**

**Welp, follow me at Lorion97. The profile pic is the same as my current profile pic here.**

**Looking forward to communicating easier with you guys,**

**- Lor**


	5. Chapter 4: More Lies

**Author's Note:**

**Hello audience and welcome back to another chapter.**

**Sorry for the long delay, what with school and a Music Retreat things were busy this week. I had to play catch up over the weekend.**

**Anyways, here's another chapter. Last time featured Jack getting used to his new surroundings at Beacon, this chapter features more development.**

**As usual, enjoy, follow, and please leave a review.**

**- Lor**

* * *

Chapter 4: More Lies

The rest of the day was rather quiet, sure, team RWBY was nearby me but they mostly kept to themselves. I sensed that something had changed that made me concerned, _please, don't ask me anything_, I thought as the last class passed by slowly as I looked around the lecture room.

The room was a semi-circular room surrounding a stage that was the teacher's spot. The teacher in this class had green hair which was messy and all over the place. He was also wearing a white dress shirt and dress pants along with it. He seemed to be zipping around the lecture room as he was drinking a cup of coffee.

He was teaching history, the one thing that I was excited to know about. It was because I believed that I could receive some clue about my past. I figured that maybe my memory was tied to an event or something, somehow. It was a bit selfish as the Professor only covered the important details. Still though, I was eager to listen to what he had to say, he began to talk about the Faunus Human War.

As he began to ramble I felt a connection; I instinctively to gripped my hands tightly on the desk. Weiss noticed this and looked in my direction. I felt somebody watching me and I looked over to find Weiss staring at me, her cold blue eyes squinting as she tried to understand what I was doing. I immediately released the tension and smiled at her with my eyes closed.

She simply returned to her seat, but I could tell that what I did bothered her.

The class ended and the Professor dismissed it, it was approximately four so I decided to go and get something to eat. I didn't notice the people who were following me as I made my way over to the cafeteria, completely ignoring anybody that passed me.

I ordered my food and sat down to eat, I decided to take a window seat in the center. I stared outside as a small sparrow was perched on the window. It seemed to be chirping as it held a seed in its mouth. Another sparrow came over and the two seemed to be sharing the seed. I smiled as I watched the two birds share the treat together while I dug my fork in for another bite.

I then saw the four members of team RWBY join me, I took another bite and welcomed the girls with a wave. "Hey Jack," Ruby greeted, for some reason she didn't seem as cheery as she was this morning.

"What's the matter Ruby?" I asked.

"Nothing," Ruby replied. She was nudged by Weiss before she spoke again. "Er, Jack. About this morning," She began.

At this I tensed up, Blake sensed this and seemed to be watching me intently. I was holding onto my fork a bit too tightly. "What about it?" I asked, pursing my lips.

"Well," Ruby began as she rubbed the back of her head.

Weiss decided to speak up in Ruby's place, "You're not, normal, are you?"

I gulped, "W-What do you m-mean?" I stammered out.

"You've never emitted an aura in the entire time we've been with you," Blake stated.

"And yet you've got these powers," Weiss stated. "So what are you?"

"Can't you tell that I'm like you guys?" I tried to suggest. Weiss only raised her eyes; Ruby and Yang were both quiet throughout the interrogation. _What can I do? I can't tell them the truth; if I do I'll be finished. This life that I thought I would gain would be gone, snuffed out. What do I do_? I thought to myself. A new thought came into my head, _lie, lie like you've always had_, it told me.

"Weiss, maybe we should," Ruby began before I stopped her.

I sighed, "Its fine, so, you want to know what I am?"

"Precisely," Blake stated.

"Fine, I'm human, but I doubt that you're going to believe me. But here," I then moved my hand to touch Weiss' face gently.

She immediately swatted my hand away, "You!" She began to huff.

"Well, there, you felt it right? My hand right there?" I stated.

Weiss seemed to want to break my neck as she stared daggers at me. She gritted her teeth, "Fine, your point?"

"Well, that I'm human," I stated.

"That still doesn't explain the fact that you can't generate an aura," Blake added.

I sighed, "I, when you guys found me I was in that forest for years."

At this everybody opened their eyes, "W-What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I never had parents. As far as I knew I was dropped into the forest," I told them. "I didn't know who I was or anything besides my name."

"So, you don't know anything about your past?" Yang questioned.

"Yes," I admitted.

"That's, awful," Ruby commented, "Being alone for all those years."

"Well, you learn to deal with it," I lied straight through my teeth. "So there you have it. I hope you're happy."

Weiss seemed to be dazed, "And if you'll excuse me I'll see you four later." I told them, leaving the table.

I walked off, I lied, I told them a complete lie. One lie after the other, first the fact that I was human then the second fact that I was well. I passed students as they made a rush to the mess hall. I merely pressed on until I made it to an empty hallway.

There I stood alone as I walked over to the windows. I decided to pull my hood over my head to conceal my face as I saw the rising moon. I looked at how beautiful it was, the moon, a crystal clear and shining ball of light. _Hmph, crystal clear, unlike me_, I thought as I continued to look at it. _Look at me, a dead man and a liar_. I looked at my pale see through hands, I then thought about the four girls. They began to become distrustful of me. I didn't blame them, after all, I've told myself a thousand times, _who would care if I disappeared_? I thought.

At this several tears came from my face. I began to wipe them up from my face as I began to walk away from the spot. I heard a voice from behind me, it was light and childish. I immediately recognized it as Ruby. "Wait! Jack!"

I stopped, but didn't face her, "What do you want?"

"I, I'm sorry about Weiss," She apologized.

I sighed, "She was only saying what everybody was thinking. All of you think that I'm weird."

"That's not true," Ruby protested. "I don't think you're weird."

That was refreshing to my ears; she seemed very sincere about it. Her words must've touched my heart; I wiped my eyes and faced her. "Really?" I asked. "You don't think I'm weird?"

"Well, I think I'm weird, you're not that much different," She began to say. "I mean, I have super speed and Yang's hair lights up when she's angry. So none of us are normal," She continued with a smile.

I felt warmth come back to my body. It was comforting to know that at least someone cared about me. Even more so coming from Ruby, her tone and voice was so sincere that it made me believe her. "Thanks Ruby, you, you don't know how much that meant to me." I smiled in return.

"Oh it was nothing," She replied with a smile, "Anything to help out a friend. So, are you coming back?" She then asked.

"Thanks for the offer but I'll have to decline, I can't deal with another situation like that for today," I told her, "Thanks for the offer though."

"Well, see you later then Jack!" She finished as she headed off in the other direction.

I smiled for a moment before I walked off in the other direction. I was happy that somebody treated me as if nothing about my past mattered. The simple fact that Ruby cared was enough to make me stop tearing as I walked through the halls. It was rather early and the moon was rising, every single night I would look at the moon rise as I sat on the mountain. I'd watch it rise until it peaked in the sky; I decided to do it again.

I began to walk around the school until I found doors leading outside to the roof. The roof was rectangular with a slant towards the side as shilling. I made my way over to the edge and sat down, letting my feet dangle over the side. I then laid my cloak down behind me as a blanket and lied down. The hood portion covered the top of my head as I did so.

I began to look up at the moon that was rising; it was almost at its peak. I felt a person sit down beside me, whoever it was also dangled their feet off the side of the roof. I sat up to look at whoever sat next to me. I began to see a long mess of blond hair as I stood up.

Yang was sitting there beside me, looking over the horizon.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Woah, I didn't mean to bother you," Yang began.

I sighed, "No, sorry, it's alright, so, did you want to talk?"

"Yeah, about your past," She told me.

"What about it?" I asked her.

"I want to help you find it," She stated bluntly.

It took me a while for me to formulate a response, "Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I've felt the same way," She explained. "You see, Ruby and me are half-sisters, we had different moms. Dad never told us about her but one day I found a picture of her in our house among and old abandoned house. When Dad went out I took Ruby with me to go look for the place. I didn't find any answers but, that's beside the point. I understand how you feel. I've also felt lost and unsure."

"And you're willing to help me, just like that?" I asked.

"Yeah, who knows, maybe I'll find some clues about my mom," She told me with a smile.

I took this into consideration, "Thanks, I'd, I'd like that," I told her.

She responded with a friendly smile. "You're welcome."

I lied back down, as I continued to stare up at the moon. Yang decided to take her leave, "Goodnight Jack."

"Night Yang," I replied with a smile.

_I guess it's time for me to leave as well_; I left to return to my room. Upon returning to my room I noticed a note on my door, picking it up I read it. _Take care_, it read from Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss. Each of them signing their own name, well, it seemed that Weiss' signature was forced as it was a bit messy. I simply smiled as I took the note and placed it on my desk.

_Things will be okay from now on_.

The following day was spent with less tension, Weiss eased up at breakfast and Ruby was humming to herself excitedly. Yang herself was petting Blake, which I ended up finding weird. Still though, the situation was bright and happy as Ruby complained about her homework.

To which Weiss responded with, "That's because you don't finish it!"

"Sowwy Weiss," Ruby replied, tilting her head.

"Dolt," Weiss muttered.

I smiled as I enjoyed my breakfast; I then began to laugh as Ruby attempted to crack a joke. I loved living the blissful lie, being near these girls made me feel whole. While I was left in the forest I'd begun to lose my sanity, instead of trying to ask them for help I began to treat them like enemies. I'd scare them off; it was due to this isolation, this feeling of emptiness.

These four girls on the other hand felt like the missing half of me that was missing, they calmed my sanity and returned me to who I was from the beginning. I continued to laugh and smile as I enjoyed my time near them. The four of them left to go to their other classes while I attended mine.

That was the start of my friendship with them, Ruby and Yang were quite understanding of me. Blake on the other hand was rather quiet as usual. Weiss was usually bickering with Ruby over something; it usually didn't go far as Ruby would find some way to calm down her.

That day I was sitting on the roof yet again, Yang again decided to join me on the roof. "So, do you have any ideas of who you were?" She asked.

"No, not exactly," I began to say. "But, I do feel some kind of connection to the Faunus Human War."

"Well, I suppose that is a starting point," Yang told me. We sat for a moment of silence before Yang decided to speak up again, "Hey; is it okay if I tell my team?"

"Sure," I replied.

"Cool," She answered.

"So, how about you, do you have any idea about your mom?" I asked.

Yang paused again before answering me, "No, I don't."

"I'm sure that you'll find her," I assured her.

"Well, no biggie." Yang replied putting on a smiling face.

I smiled in return, knowing that at least one person shared the same loss as me. It was, comforting, to know that someone else could relate to me. "I guess we should ask Blake huh?" Yang continued.

"Why Blake?" I asked.

"Well, I needed help on an assignment one time and Blake knew everything about Faunus and their history," Yang replied.

"I guess we should then," I replied.

"Well, goodnight Jack," Yang wished me.

"Night," I replied. I continued to lie there, gazing at the stars and the moon.

I eventually retired to my room and rested. I lied down on my bed and began to think, I was thankful for the closeness that Yang brought me. Not only was she the most relatable person here she seemed to also be the most understanding person here. I also felt a connection to her as we've both lost something important, for me, my memories and for her, the mother that she never knew.

Then I thought about the others, Blake didn't seem to care all too much after I told her my lie. _Hmph, my lie_, at this I thought about Ruby, she was such a small childish and naïve spirit. I wonder what would've happened if I'd told her the truth about myself that night. Would she have treated me the same? Or would she retreat like everyone else, I proceeded to think about how my lie got me here. It allowed me to get friends. People that would be there when I needed them, I then proceeded to think about how the lie would affect me in the future.

I turned over in my bed to face the wall. I pictured the lie being shattered; it sent shivers down my spine. Everybody that I knew, Ruby, Yang, Blake, everybody, would turn their backs on me. They'll send me back to where I came from, no, worse, they'll outcast me. They won't even look my way, their fear for the dead bothering them such that I will be left alone. This paranoia, continued to creep up, despite my ties to them the paranoia caused me to fear the future. As I began to grow paranoid in my bed I tried to find a solution.

_A lie couldn't hurt right_?

If I never told them the truth the heartbreak would never occur, I could live in peace with them. Never shunned, never out casted, at the same time I could search for the truth about my past. At the time it seemed like a win, win situation, so I smiled myself to sleep.

* * *

Elsewhere in Vale, the same pink haired girl was sitting in the same abandoned warehouse, examining books and replaying the video footage of Jack, the moonlight shining over her work. The desk also had a wooden wall which had a whole bunch of pictures pasted on it. There were several crates of unknown objects neatly stacked around. She began to hum as she smiled at the footage that she acquired, all while somebody was walking up from behind her.

The figure was male and rather tall, about twice the height of her. He had a cigar in his mouth as he walked over to her, his features were cloaked by the dark lighting of the warehouse but when he came closer his features were clear.

He was wearing a white over jacket paired with a black bowler hat. His curved orange hair covered one of his eyes. He was holding a black cane as he approached the girl, a rather glum frown was covering his face. He squinted as he approached the girl, his figure illuminated by the rising moon.

"So, what is this that I've heard about waiting?" He asked.

"Oh, Roman, how nice of you to pass-by," She replied.

"So, would you mind explaining to me, why he isn't under our control yet?" He asked.

"Oh Roman," She said with a smile. "I have this under control."

"But when Neo! How long do we have to wait," Roman asked.

"Patience, remember, he has to be enraged," Neo replied.

"I should be there, we could nab him right now," He muttered.

"Oh Roman, you are simply just not qualified," She answered.

"Right; and you are," He muttered under his breath.

"Yup," She replied with a big smirk. "Just wait and he'll play right into our hands. His emotions will break when they find out the truth."

"Right, then we swoop right in for him," Roman added.

"It takes two of the same feather to communicate," Neo added. "He'll break soon, and the monster will come."

"But what am I going to tell Cinder?" He mused on.

"I've got no idea," Neo added.

"Fine, but you make sure that you and your bag of crazy tricks are there," Roman finished before leaving.

"No problem," Neo continued to grin from head to toe. Before leaving the books she scribbled something onto a pad of paper, after she'd finished she looked back at the note. On it seemed to read several steps. 1. Fall into despair. 2. Nurture the rage 3. Turn it against them

Following the three steps there was a drawing which seemed to depict Jack, each of them was numbered with a crude number. The first one showed Jack in his normal hooded outfit, the second showed him with an orange flaming sphere in the place of his head, his hood was undone and a black skull seemed to cackle. The last picture seemed to depict a beast on all fours, its form was shady and wisp like. It didn't seem to have a solid figure at all and was made of a pure black gas. Its head was hung low as narrow piercing red eyes were depicted along with a set of fangs.

Neo pasted the note onto the board before leaving the warehouse, smiling once more as she picked up her umbrella and twirled it. _Soon, Jack, soon_.


End file.
